Courting
by kakashifan9
Summary: Hizashi realizes his crush on Shouta and tries to advance their relationship. Sequel for "Purple Bruises".
1. Advice

Hizashi absentmindedly stared at his math textbook. None of the formulas or exercise explanations were making any sense to him. But then again, Hizashi wasn't really focused on his homework. Instead, he was thinking about his best friend, Shouta.

Or more recently, he discovered, his newfound growing crush on his childhood best friend. The thought made Hizashi's face heat up as he groaned and slammed his head onto his desk, knocking over some stacked CDs he had been organizing a few minutes earlier.

It was almost the end of their first semester at UA and in those few months he spent with Shouta, Hizashi started noticing things he hadn't thought much about until reuniting with him. It began during their first week when their class had gone through one-on-one battle simulations. Hizashi was bouncing on his heels, trying to stifle his excitement at seeing how Shouta's opponent fell apart after being affected by his best friend's quirk.

But as the battle drew out with the odds being clearly in Shouta's favor, Hizashi started noticing how smooth and fluid Shouta moved, seemingly dodging attacks with little to no effort. When Shouta activated his quirk, his dark black hair would sweep up with his capture weapon, flowing like dancing ribbons. The spark of red that flashed behind those yellow goggles made Hizashi fidget as he watched his friend successfully finish the simulation with his opponent detained in his gray scarf.

Shouta was amazing, cool and smart. Hizashi had always known this, but something else came to mind after watching that battle.

Shouta was… beautiful.

Hizashi may have squeaked when Shouta made his way next to him, so lost in thought that he jumped when he was lightly tapped on the shoulder. Hizashi quickly buried his confused musings and turned to give his best friend an enthusiastic high five. Shouta scoffed and returned it with a lethargic tap, a soft smile peeking out from under his large scarf. Hizashi hadn't even realized that he had been staring until Shouta elbowed him in the ribs, reminding him to pay attention to the other simulation battles.

After that, Hizashi couldn't help but steal glances at Shouta whenever he had the chance. He noticed how his friend had a baby face, accentuated particularly when he was asleep. His hardened features were relaxed, showing off how round and smooth his face looked. It was far more adorable than Hizashi was willing to admit.

Hizashi had always felt triumphant whenever he managed to get Shouta to laugh, even if it was a small chuckle. But now whenever he'd hear Shouta's tiny little snorts of concealed laughter, Hizashi would feel his chest grow tight and his palms would get sweaty. He would immediately avert his gaze, trying to hide the soft blush that dusted his cheeks after seeing something so ridiculously simple and normal and… cute.

This was bad. This was really, really bad.

Hizashi let out a strangled moan, running his hand through his hair in defeat. He heard a soft meow, turning to see his black house cat, staring at him with twitching ears.

"I think we both like Shouta a little too much, Oreo." Hizashi groaned, burying his face into his hands. The cat responded by jumping onto Hizashi's bed, walking around in a circle on his covers before promptly plopping down on his pillow.

With an exaggerated sigh, Hizashi pushed aside his math textbook and blindly groped for his phone. Feeling the plastic at the tip of his fingers, he dragged it towards him, flipping it open to look through his contacts.

(5:34) Hey, Nemuri! Are you busy? If you're not, can we meet up at a coffee shop or something? I need help with something.

After sending the text, Hizashi felt his phone vibrate.

(5:35) Sure. What's up? You have some boy troubles you want to talk about? ;)

Hizashi sputtered, nearly dropping his phone from embarrassment.

(5:37) What?! I didn't even mention what I wanted to talk about!

(5:38) Your defensive response tells me I hit the nail right on the head, sweetheart.

(5:39) There was nothing defensive about it!

(5:39) ;)

(5:40) Are you busy or not?

(5:41) Someone's in a hurry to get laid tonight. ;)

Hizashi nearly screamed, ready to throw his phone out the window until he felt it vibrate again.

(5:42) Is the coffee shop two blocks away from your place alright?

(5:44) Yeah, I'll see you there in 15 minutes.

Hizashi flipped his phone shut and quickly changed into a loose jacket and some jeans. If he was really going through with this, this would be the first time he would have ever shared his deep secret of crushing on his childhood best friend with someone. He severely hoped that he hadn't just made things worse for himself.

* * *

After meeting up with Nemuri and taking fifteen minutes to compose himself and nearly screaming "I THINK I LIKE SHOUTA", Hizashi found himself wheezing as if he had just run a marathon.

Nemuri casually took a sip of her latte.

"Sweetie, I know."

"YOU WHAT?" Hizashi screamed, nearly knocking over his drink from the mere sound of his voice. He sheepishly sank into his seat as the customers glared at him for his sudden outburst.

"How do I put this," Nemuri hummed, stirring her drink with a spoon, completely unfazed from the increased volume. "I knew that you had a crush on Shouta before you even realized it yourself. But to be honest, everyone saw this coming already."

Hizashi had to fight off the urge to huddle into a little ball and explode from embarrassment.

"Okay, well that's just peachy and all, but what am I suppose to do now?" Hizashi sulked, tugging at the flaps of his jacket from nervousness.

"Just tell him how you feel."

"It's not that simple, Nemuri!" Hizashi exclaimed. Receiving a few more glares from the table next to him, he took a deep breath to calm his quirk. "What if he doesn't take it well? Being rejected is one thing, but losing our friendship would ruin everything for me."

"Look, Shouta's a bit… unorthodox at times so it makes him a bit harder to read, but I wouldn't be surprised if he returned your feelings," Nemuri said, pointing her spoon at Hizashi to force him to look up at her.

"And to have a confession ruin what you have already, I would have thought that your relationship would be a little stronger than that. You've been friends since elementary school and you two practically fought tooth and nail to get into UA together. Don't you think you should have a little more faith in him?" Nemuri sighed, leaning her head onto the palm of her hand.

"I guess, but still," Hizashi muttered. "I like what we have now."

The sudden thought of never being able to talk to Shouta again made Hizashi's stomach turn. It had been hard enough having to keep in contact through letters and phone calls after Shouta was forced to move to another city.

"Then what do you want to do, Hizashi? Keep your relationship at the level that it's at right now or take a shot at advancing it further?" Nemuri challenged, licking her spoon as she watched Hizashi's eyebrows knit together in frustration.

Hizashi groaned and ran his hand through his hair.

"I want him to like me back," he finally admitted. "I want to be able to tell him how I feel and have him tell me he likes me, too."

"And you really think there isn't a possibility of him returning your feelings right now?" Nemuri sighed, leaning more heavily onto her hand.

"Well it's not like I've tried to make him like me yet!" Hizashi exclaimed, gripping his paper cup as he tried to control his volume.

"Being inseparable since elementary school doesn't count?"

"That's… different. When I was eight, I wanted him to be my friend, not my boyfriend." Hizashi gritted his teeth as his ears turned red from just mentioning the b-word.

He huffed at Nemuri, who seemed to be enjoying his turmoil. He took a sip of his drink and slammed it onto the table, green eyes staring directly at the upperclassman.

"Nemuri, if you liked someone, what would you do to win them over?"

Hizashi felt instant regret the moment he asked that question to the aspiring R-18 hero who answered with a seductive wink.

"Er, umm… I mean… to be clear, I meant something that wouldn't be borderline sexual harassment. I don't want him to get the wrong idea."

"So you don't want something 'more' from him?" Nemuri teased, licking her lips as Hizashi nearly popped the lid off of his paper cup from gripping it too tightly.

"Th-that's not what I'm aiming for, Nemuri!" Hizashi yelled, feeling his cheeks heat up. Honestly just the thought of holding Shouta's hand was enough to make him break out into a nervous sweat. There was no way he could go further than that without fainting right now.

"You're such a kill joy. But I guess there are a few things you could do that doesn't involve taking off your pants," Nemuri purred, enjoying the view of a flustered Hizashi who had let out a high-pitched squeak. Nemuri's glass cup cracked at the edge as everyone in the café winced at the shrill sound.

After finally getting kicked out from the coffee shop, Hizashi was forced to continue the conversation at his place. He prayed that he wouldn't break a window after hearing Nemuri's advice. Hizashi would also never hear the end of it if his parents heard him screaming with a guest in his room. He'd never be allowed to be alone with someone in his room ever again.


	2. Cooking

"Okay, listen up! What's the first thing that men love the most?" Nemuri asked, holding up one finger in emphasis.

"Um… listening to music?"

"No, Hizashi. Sex."

"NEMURI, WE'VE BEEN THROUGH THIS!" Hizashi nearly cried.

"Let me finish talking. What's the **second** thing they love the most?"

"Um… does it have something to do with sex again?"

"Food, Hizashi. Food," she sighed. "Second only to sleeping with someone, men can't resist a good meal. That's your first strategy. You win his heart with your cooking."

"Oh! That's a really good idea!" Hizashi beamed. "But there's just one problem."

"Yeah?"

"I don't know how to cook."

* * *

Even though UA was known for its hero training course, it surprisingly also offered a variety of elective classes. Taking Nemuri's advice about learning how to cook, Hizashi found himself to be the only male who voluntarily joined a home ed class.

In the first few weeks, Hizashi had learned how to make simple pastries and bentou boxes. He borrowed books from the library that gave directions for simple recipes that also brought out the aesthetics in making a meal. Hizashi would practice at home on top of attending his daily classes, spending nearly a month of allowances on ingredients. The first few attempts had been disasters. Hizashi had no idea that someone could screw up frying an egg, but after the smoke alarm went off in his house, he definitely knew that it was possible.

"Well, heroes were meant to do the impossible, right?" Hizashi would mutter to himself after tossing out burnt eggs for the third time.

It took a couple tries before he finally managed to make a decorative bentou that he was satisfied with. He had wanted to give it to Shouta during lunch, but after lying in bed stressing out about how forward that seemed, he decided that he'd just "accidentally" bring two lunches to school.

So when he pulled out two bentou boxes, receiving a quizzical look from his best friend, Hizashi tried to play it off by casually leaning on his desk, putting on his best smile.

"I don't know what happened, Shouta. I packed a lunch box for myself the night before, but I was so tired in the morning that I just grabbed another one when I left the house," he laughed, feeling his stomach flip when Shouta's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"B-but let's not dwell on our mistakes! Here, you can have this one. A 'Hizashi special'! I made it myself, so it's filled with vitality and youth!" Hizashi screamed, suddenly feeling the urge to bang his head against the nearest wall. Instead, he chose to cover his face in shame as he pushed the bentou towards his best friend.

Hizashi felt Shouta's eyes dart between him and the bentou box. He heard Shouta let out a huff before he pulled off the lid that was covering the lunch box.

"You really made this yourself?"

"Yeah, I mean, I told you before that I'm trying to learn how to cook," Hizashi nervously laughed, fiddling with the cuff of his uniform. Shouta's hardened eyes seemed to relax, something akin to affection. It was an expression he seemed to reserve for his house cat, Oreo, Hizashi noted.

Maybe he was reading too much into this, Hizashi thought, internally sighing.

If Hizashi were to be honest though, the food wasn't anything spectacular. It was mainly just rice with eggs and vegetables on the side. He had tried to make an octopus out of a hotdog, but it had somehow ended up looking like a two-headed fish.

Hizashi grimaced as Shouta ate out of the bentou box, waiting for his friend to comment on how plain and simple the meal was. He silently ate out of his second bentou, intent on staring at the rice to prepare himself for some kind of backlash.

"It's good," he heard Shouta mutter. Hizashi's head shot up, green eyes wide open behind his yellow sunglasses.

Shouta's head was tilted downwards, slowly shoveling rice into his mouth. Hizashi thought he might have seen a small blush dusting his friend's cheeks, but Shouta's bangs were covering his face so he couldn't be sure.

"R-really?! You really think so?!" Hizashi smiled.

Shouta gave him a small nod, not quite meeting his eye while carefully chewing on his food.

Hizashi felt his chest grow tight again and he couldn't stop the bright smile that seemed to be plastered onto his face.

"Thanks, Shouta! I know it's not super extravagant or anything, but I worked really hard on it!" Hizashi said, grinning as he watched Shouta eat his two-headed fish hotdog.

"Why are you thanking me? You're the one who gave me free food," Shouta muttered, picking at a cucumber with his chopsticks.

"Because I'm really happy that you like it!" Hizashi nearly screamed, feeling his face grow red from how excited he felt right now.

"But I guess anything would taste better than those juice pouches you always drink," Hizashi teased. Shouta replied with a small shrug.

"It's convenient."

"Hey, I can keep making you bentou if you want, you know?"

"You don't have to do that." Shouta's shoulders visibly tensed as he seemed to hide even further behind his bangs.

"I don't have to, but I want to! I have to make sure my best friend eats at least one healthy meal a day!" Hizashi retorted, mentally sorting out at least an hour of his day to make an extra bentou.

"Just don't feel obligated to do this every day," Shouta muttered, quickly adding, "I don't want to owe you too much."

"Well, I don't have to only make bentou. I'm still learning a lot of cooking techniques. How about I share the new stuff I make with you? You can tell me if you like it and I'll try to adjust everything based on that." Hizashi could feel himself leaning forward in his seat, his face inches away from invading Shouta's personal space.

Hizashi subtlety noted that this arrangement could also give him insight on the things that Shouta liked to eat. If Nemuri's advice was on point, Hizashi was well on his way to winning his best friend's affection.

"But a fair warning, it might not taste that good," Hizashi added, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head, recalling his many burnt eggs.

"Only if you want to," Shouta said, finally looking up at Hizashi. "But yeah, I'd like that."

Hizashi felt like his heart was about to beat right out of his chest. Shouta taking an interest in things that he was learning made him feel ecstatic. He really did have the best friend in the world. Hizashi spent the rest of their lunch time discussing cooking techniques he had learned from his home ed class.

Through this arrangement, Hizashi learned that Shouta wasn't a very picky eater. He always finished everything that Hizashi made, never leaving a single leftover, even if he commented on how it was a little too salty or sweet. As nice as it was to have such a supportive friend, it actually made things harder for Hizashi to identify Shouta's food preferences.

So Hizashi figured he had to bring out the big guns. Shouta was the type of person to only show some kind of response (other than boredom and probably annoyance) if he was truly impressed by something. He decided to ask for advice in his home ed class.

"Hey, so if you wanted to impress someone with a dish, what would you recommend making?" he casually asked at the end of a lesson when everyone was cleaning up their stations.

"Whose it for?" one classmate asked.

"Oh, um, it's for a good friend."

All the girls immediately seemed to surround Hizashi after he mentioned a "good friend".

"A good friend?! You normally don't cook for a 'good friend' for no reason!"

Hizashi suddenly felt like a mouse cornered by a dozen cats. He held up his hands in front of himself as if he were preparing to block an upcoming attack.

"I-It's nothing like that! I mean, it's kind of like that. But not exactly like that!" Hizashi felt like he was shrinking into himself as his female classmates gave him knowing looks. Maybe Nemuri really was right about everyone knowing about his crush. Luckily for him, they didn't question any further.

"Well, I think the best gifts I've ever gotten showed how well someone knew me. So if you want to make a dish for your friend, then make it into something they really like. My mother once made me a really cute onigiri molded into the shape of a bunny!"

"Something they really like," Hizashi hummed, suddenly getting an idea of what he wanted to make for his best friend.

One girl smiled, patting Hizashi on the shoulder.

"If you spend a lot of time making it, I'm sure they'll appreciate the sentiment at the very least," another girl piped up, receiving nods of agreement from her classmates.

"Okay!" Hizashi's voice boomed in the room, his classmates completely unfazed. "I think I got it! Thanks everyone!"

"Good luck, Hizashi!" his classmates cheered.

He spent his entire weekend crafting Shouta's gift with some help from his mother, who seemed just as intuitive as his home ed class.

The next morning, when Hizashi presented a white sweets box tied with a neat little bow, he couldn't hold back a blinding smile at Shouta whose eyes had widened slightly.

"What is this?" Shouta muttered, raising an eyebrow at the box in front of him. "Did you stop by a bakery this morning?"

"No, I made it myself!" Hizashi announced, hands on his hips in triumph. "For you to mistake it for something store bought, I must have done a really good job this time!"

Shouta shrugged, fingers gingerly holding the edges of the box. He seemed to hesitate, treating the gift rather delicately.

"Come on, Shouta! Open it, please!" Hizashi said in accented English.

Letting out a soft huff, Shouta carefully untied the ribbon. Slowly opening the box, his eyes widened slightly. Staring back at him with small black eyes was an orange cat cupcake. There was light chocolate frosting sitting on top of its head with a dash of sprinkles. Its cheeks were dusted red and it had a small smile that greeted Shouta's gaping face.

"I wanted to model it after Oreo, but I thought black frosting would make it look kind of gross, so my mom suggested orange instead. I guess I should tell you my mom helped me a little, but I swear I did most of the baking stuff!" Hizashi smiled, rocking back and forth in his chair.

Shouta opened his mouth, closing it a second later. He bit his lower lip, bringing his hand up to cover the lower half of his face.

Hizashi's eyebrows knitted in apprehension. This was definitely a new reaction from his best friend and it made Hizashi's stomach flip. He held his breath, only exhaling to let out a nervous laugh.

"Sorry, is it too much? Or maybe you really don't like sweets?" Hizashi chewed the inside of his cheek, glancing between the cupcake and Shouta.

"No. I like it. I like it a lot," Shouta muttered through his hand. Hizashi started to see a blossoming blush on his friend's face.

Hizashi mentally gave himself a high five.

"Wow, Shouta! I had no idea you liked cats so much!" Hizashi hollered in laughter, the butterflies in his stomach suddenly changing to relief.

He watched Shouta blink, shoulders seemingly deflating.

"Yeah…" Shouta sighed, still staring at the cupcake. His usually dark eyes seemed to soften. "It's really cute."

"I'm so glad you like it! You have to try it and tell me how it came out! My mom and I made a few batches before we finally got it right." Hizashi pulled out a plastic fork from his backpack.

Shouta didn't take the fork when it was handed to him.

"Shouta?"

Hizashi was met with silence.

"Um, is everything okay?"

Shouta shook his head, glaring at the cupcake.

"It's cute."

"Yeah, you told me that already."

"It's really… cute," Shouta said through gritted teeth, groaning slightly.

Hizashi blinked owlishly. As he glanced between the pastry and his friend, Hizashi couldn't stop the obnoxious loud laugh that exploded out of him.

"Are you trying to tell me it's too cute to eat?!" Hizashi found his volume dropping, seeing his friend's red eyes erasing his quirk.

"Shut up. I"ll eat it, okay?" Shouta grumbled, his cheeks reddening.

After wiping away a few stray tears, Hizashi quickly rummaged through his backpack to pull out his phone.

"Here, since you love it so much, let me take a picture of it and I'll send it to you." Hizashi flipped his phone open and quickly snapped a picture of the cupcake.

Showing his friend the picture, he snickered at how Shouta's eyes lighted up at the sight of the cupcake on his digital screen.

"Hey Shouta. Let's take one more." Hizashi shuffled out of his seat, kneeling next to him. Shouta seemed to visibly tense at how close Hizashi was to him.

Turning his camera to face the two of them, Hizashi screamed "CHEESE". The sound of the shutter frame clicked a few times. Hizashi had to retake a few shots since their faces kept getting cut off from the small screen.

"Are you done? I thought you wanted me to eat the cupcake," Shouta huffed after a minute of photos.

"Oh, so now you want to eat the precious cupcake," Hizashi teased as he went back to sit in his seat.

"I'm eating it," Shouta bluntly stated, sticking the plastic fork into the frosting.

As Shouta ate the pastry, Hizashi flipped through the photos he took. Most of them were duds, some being too blurry while others caught one of them blinking. But there was one shot that had the both of them smiling.

It wasn't like Hizashi's tooth grinning smile, but Shouta's lips were twitched upward slightly, his dark eyes curving a bit in affection. Hizashi felt his heart rate speed up, gripping his phone more tightly than needed.

This was a good time to confess, right?

Hizashi's palms grew sweaty and he tapped his foot in agitation. Dear god, he wasn't prepared even though it seemed like such a perfect moment to let Shouta know about his growing crush. He shot up from his desk, mouth wide open as his friend jolted from the sudden movement.

Hizashi took a deep breath. He could feel his own heartbeat through his red ears.

"Hizashi?" Shouta muttered, concern laced in his voice.

"Shouta," Hizashi began. "I… forgot that I had cleaning duty so I won't be able to walk to the bus stop with you today."

Shouta blinked.

"Alright," he shrugged, turning back to face the slightly eaten cupcake in front of him.

Hizashi screamed internally. Nemuri would kill him for this.

Sighing in defeat, Hizashi settled on secretly taking a picture of Shouta eating the cupcake. There was a bit of frosting on his cheek and nose. It kind of made Hizashi feel better about chickening out on his confession.


	3. Beach Day

"Shouta's a home-body, but from what I've seen, he seems to stick to you. Simply put it, where ever you go, he goes."

"But the most we ever do is hang out at cafes or stop by the arcade. We don't really take the time to go anywhere new," Hizashi sighed. A part of him felt his heart flutter from hearing that Shouta voluntarily followed him around.

"Then that's your next strategy. You go on a special day-trip with him. It doesn't have to be somewhere far away, but as long as it's something you two don't usually do together, it'll make the whole thing memorable," Nemuri stated, taking a bite out of the senbei Hizashi had brought up for them.

"But isn't that like a… **date**?" The last word came out as a shrill squeak.

"You spend countless time with this boy, just the two of you since you were kids and you're only now calling it a date?" Nemuri gave her underclassman an unimpressed, deadpanned look.

"Stuff like that is different because I never called it a 'date'. But now that I know it's going to actually be one, it makes everything more complicated," Hizashi groaned, running his hand through his hair.

"You're such a kid, Hizashi."

"Says the person whose only one year older than me," Hizashi pouted.

"And that one-year difference has given me far more experience with lovers than you'll ever have," Nemuri winked.

* * *

"It's so hot," Hizashi whined, sucking on half of an ice pop. It was early June and heat waves had been occurring far more than usual. Hizashi had to stop by a grocery store to pick up a few ingredients for his mother and Shouta had tagged along, stating that he needed to restock on food supplies, too.

Knowing him, he was probably going to just buy juice pouches and protein drinks, Hizashi thought. He forced his friend to pick out some fresh fruit by convincing him that if he did, he'd buy him a cold treat. Shouta reluctantly agreed after getting tired of taking out bags of fruit that Hizashi had kept throwing into his shopping basket.

Taking a bite out of his half of the ice pop Hizashi had given him, Shouta hummed in agreement. The sun relentlessly shined down on them as they walked to the train station.

Hizashi glanced at his friend, gripping his bag of groceries a little tighter.

"Hey Shouta, do you have any plans this weekend?" Hizashi nonchalantly drawled, sucking on his now empty ice pop.

"Sleeping," he replied, wiping away some sweat on his brow.

"I mean, if you don't have any plans, I was wondering if you wanted to go out with me." Hizashi suddenly felt like he was going to combust.

"Go out with you?" Shouta asked, looking up at Hizashi with eyes slightly more awake.

"Yeah, go out with me… and Nemuri," Hizashi hastily tacked on. "And Tensei. It's been super hot lately so we made plans to go to the beach together."

Shouta's widened eyes drooped, huffing as he turned to stare at the cement ground in front of him.

"I'd rather just go to your place and see Oreo," Shouta muttered.

"You practically do that every day, Shouta," Hizashi pouted. "Come on, it'll be fun! I'll even bring sparklers to play with!"

"I don't have clothes suited for the beach," Shouta countered.

"Yeah, I really need to go shopping with you one day so that your whole closet isn't just filled with black, baggy shirts and sweatpants," Hizashi laughed, playfully bumping his friend's shoulder. Shouta returned the favor by smacking him in the head with the bag of oranges he had been forced to buy.

"I'd rather be able to move comfortably than wear your tight clothing," Shouta retorted. "At least I can breathe in mine."

"I have clothes that aren't super tight!" Hizashi complained, nursing his head from where a dozen oranges had tackled him. "You can stop by my place today and pick out some stuff. I'm sure there's at least one t-shirt you'd be willing to tolerate for a day."

Shouta rubbed the back of his neck, sighing.

"Fine, but you owe me another popsicle."

Hizashi cheered, hurriedly grabbing Shouta's arm to run to the train station. With his excitement for the weekend outweighing the unbearable heat, Hizashi couldn't wait to pick out some suitable clothes for their beach day.

After having to nearly lock his house cat in another room to get Shouta's full attention, he ended up picking a baggy white t-shirt, a pair of loose brown shorts and a light sweatshirt. Shouta stayed for dinner and after walking him to the train station, Hizashi ran home and quickly called Nemuri and Tensei to invite them out to a last minute beach date.

* * *

When Saturday rolled around, Hizashi shot out of his bed before his alarm went off, vibrating from pure excitement. He went through his usual morning routine, taking extra time to make sure his gelled hair was in place. Humming as he zipped up a loose jacket, he dug through his closet to find a pair of shorts.

Hearing his phone vibrate on his desk, Hizashi momentarily stuck his head out of the closet to check his texts.

(9:23) Should I bail last minute to give you and Shouta some privacy? ;)

(9:24) Don't you dare Nemuri.

(9:26) You're such a child, Hizashi. At least wear some nice shorts. They better be tight or no one will ever be able to see that flat ass of your's.

(9:27) MY ASS IS PERFECTLY FINE THE WAY IT IS!

Hizashi huffed, reddening as he tossed his phone onto his bed, returning to his closet to dig out some shorts.

After settling on his outfit, he packed a quick bag, throwing in a few beach towels and a bottle of sunscreen. He also tossed in a packet of sparklers, remembering how he had mentioned them with Shouta.

Putting on his prescription sunglasses, Hizashi dashed out his front door to get to the train station. He was supposed to meet up with Shouta at ten to ride the train together. Even though the train station was only a ten minute walk away from his house, Hizashi couldn't find the will power to sit still and wait.

Last night he had been mentally rehearsing how he would tell Shouta about his crush. After having an awesome beach day, Hizashi would finally tell him how he felt on the sunset beach as the waves dramatically crashed onto the shore. It would be just like the sappy romance movies he watched… for research purposes.

Shuffling on one foot to the other, Hizashi hummed a soft tune as he waited for his friend. When he spotted Shouta's mop of black hair, he enthusiastically waved at him. Even without his quirk, his voice easily echoed through the train station.

As his friend made his way over, Hizashi couldn't help but stare at the borrowed clothes Shouta was wearing. It wasn't like Shouta hadn't borrowed his clothes before. He'd done it plenty of times when they were kids. And it wasn't like the clothes were much different from the baggy ones Shouta usually wore.

But right now, seeing Shouta walking towards him with the sweatshirt Hizashi usually slept in made the aspiring voice hero's breathing grow shallow.

"Hizashi, are you alright?" Hizashi stiffened at the question.

This was no time to be admiring how cute Shouta looked. Shaking his head, Hizashi gave his friend a thumbs-up.

"Just really looking forward to hanging out with you today!" Hizashi almost screamed. "We've been so busy with hero training lately that we haven't had much of a chance to do things like this."

"Yeah," Shouta huffed in agreement, smiling softly. "Just remember to get me that popsicle you promised me."

"Of course, my friend!" Hizashi yelled in English, grinning from ear to ear.

The train ride took about an hour before they arrived at their destination. With the thought of his confession out of mind, Hizashi easily managed to pass the time by talking endlessly about summer vacation plans. Aside from a few comments, Shouta generally nodded and hummed in response, leaning on the window sill as he enjoyed his friend's company.

After a couple detours from Hizashi misreading a map, they finally found the beach where they had agreed to meet up with Nemuri and Tensei. They had already claimed a part of the beach as their own, laying out towels and setting up an umbrella Nemuri had brought knowing that Shouta would probably want some shade while he took a nap on the sand.

"Hey guys! Glad you could make it!" Hizashi waved as he made his way over. Shouta lagged behind by a few steps.

"Thanks for the invite, Hizashi," Tensei smiled. "It was really last minute, but I managed to find a babysitter for Tenya. You should probably let us know sooner about these outings."

"I thought I was the last one to get an invitation," Shouta muttered, raising an eyebrow at Hizashi.

"Oh, um, I f-forgot to mention that I didn't really officially invite Tensei to come with us that day I asked you out," Hizashi stuttered.

"What are you-"

"COME ON TENSEI! L-LET'S GO PLAY IN THE WATER! I WANT TO RACE YOU!" Hizashi shrieked, throwing his arm around Tensei's neck. He quickly dragged his classmate away from Shouta, feeling his friend's intense stare burning into his back.

"Are you guys hiding something from me?" Hizashi heard Shouta question.

"Nothing gets passed you, Shouta," he heard Nemuri snicker.

"Whatever. I'm going to sleep. Don't bother me," Shouta huffed.

Hizashi looked over his shoulder, seeing Shouta laying down on the pre-prepared beach towel. He didn't miss how Nemuri stuck her tongue out at him, winking in his direction.

Hizashi groaned, running his hand through his hair.

"Am I missing something?" Tensei hummed, his smile never leaving his face. "But even if I am, I think I can fill in the missing pieces myself."

"Just keep your mouth shut, okay? I'll buy you a drink or something," Hizashi said through gritted teeth as he pushed Tensei ankle deep into the water. "It's not like you're not allowed to have a good time on the beach even if something was going on."

"You're too easy to read, Hizashi," Tensei chuckled, dunking Hizashi under the water. Hizashi flailed around, only able to get his head out when Tensei willingly loosened his grip.

As he coughed out some ocean water, Hizashi quietly cursed Tensei for having so much upper body strength. He silently promised himself to keep up with his physical work-outs. After losing to Tensei in a swimming race (if it could even be called a race), Hizashi quietly swore to double his training.

Seeing her poor underclassman wheezing from humiliation and exhaustion after the fifth lap, Nemuri eventually took pity on Hizashi and managed to free him from Tensei by inviting him to the gift shop. Trudging back to their self-proclaimed beach spot, Hizashi dramatically sighed and sat down on the beach towel.

He glanced at Shouta who was peacefully sleeping the day away. Hizashi huffed. He'd never get tired of seeing his best friend's sleeping face. It was one of the rare moments he ever saw Shouta's face so relaxed. But as nice as it was, Hizashi didn't really invite Shouta to the beach just to watch him sleep.

Hizashi sighed, his fingers unconsciously combing through Shouta's soft black locks of hair. His thumb rubbed small circles around his friend's cheek, eliciting a soft sigh. The corners of Hizashi's lips twitched into a smile.

"Hizashi?" Shouta murmured, voice heavy with sleep.

The sound of his name made the aspiring voice hero jump, quickly retracting his hand from his friend's face.

"Sh-Shouta! You're finally awake!" Hizashi nervously laughed, twiddling with his now idle fingers.

"It's warm," Shouta yawned, sitting up slowly.

"Yeah, that's because we're outside on the beach, genius." Hizashi grinned, feeling his chest grow tight from seeing Shouta rub his tired eyes like a grooming cat. "How about I get you that popsicle I owe you?"

Shouta huffed, blowing some hair out of his face.

"I want strawberry ice cream."

"Okay, one strawberry ice cream cone coming up!" Hizashi announced, saluting his friend as he made his way to a vendor.

Hizashi eventually returned with Shouta's ice cream and a few take-out boxes filled with takoyaki and yakisoba. Hizashi happily rambled about anything that came to mind. Shouta had to remind his friend not to talk with his mouth full (even though they both knew that there was no stopping him).

After finishing their food, Hizashi managed to drag Shouta away from his napping spot to build sandcastles. Competing against Nemuri and Tensei, both teams attempted to build sturdy sandcastles. When the waves crashed in, the one that was left standing would declare the winning team.

There was a lot of shouting and commands thrown between both sides, the competition apparently gaining more heat than Hizashi had originally intended. Even Shouta seemed to be getting into it, his usual calm expression replaced with something more akin to vigor. Nemuri had even tried to activate her quirk to slow them down. Hizashi was glad that he had the erasure hero on his side to prevent cheaters from using their powers.

In the end, the waves completely washed away both sides' sandcastles, neither side being any good at crafting sturdy structures.

The sky eventually began growing light red as the sun began to set. The fog slowly rolled in, bringing in a humid breeze.

"Should we call it a day?" Tensei asked, stretching his arms. "It's getting a little windy."

"Yeah, I think we should start packing up," Nemuri agreed.

"Wait, wait! I brought sparklers! We have to light them before we start heading back!" Hizashi exclaimed, digging through his bag to pull them out along with a lighter.

Unfortunately, the growing breeze gave Hizashi trouble with igniting a flame.

Grumbling as he pushed the flint for the tenth time, Hizashi glanced around, trying to find some sort of shelter. As his eyes shifted from each of his three friends, his face lit up as he got an idea.

"Hizashi, I don't think this is going to work," Tensei stated.

"You haven't even given me a chance to try!" Hizashi whined.

"We look really suspicious like this," Nemuri hummed. "Adults will probably think we're smoking weed or something."

"Your face is too close to mine," Shouta pouted.

Hizashi had forced his friends to huddle together, hoping to create a human barrier against the wind. With their arms resting on each other's shoulders, their faces were only an inch apart from the person standing beside them.

"I feel like an idiot," Shouta muttered through gritted teeth, his face growing slightly red.

"Says the person who sleeps in a yellow sleeping bag in public," Nemuri teased.

"Hizashi, how much longer are we supposed to wait?" Tensei sighed.

"Give me another minute! I can do this, guys!"

Hizashi's efforts proved fruitful. As he managed to light a sparkler, Hizashi hollered in excitement, jumping up so fast that he bumped heads with Shouta, knocking them both backwards.

"Fuck, Hizashi. That hurts," Shouta hissed, holding his forehead.

"S-sorry! Oh, w-wait! It's lit! Hurry up and get the other sparklers!" Hizashi winced as he made Nemuri and Tensei use the already ignited sparkler to light the other sticks.

"I haven't played with these since I was in elementary school," Tensei said, as he handed a lit sparkler to Nemuri.

"We should do this again when the Tanabata festival rolls around," Nemuri stated, bumping shoulders with Tensei. The two of them made light conversation as their sparklers blazed, turning their backs to Hizashi.

The consideration was nice, but this only made Hizashi's stomach flip from nervousness. Taking a deep breath to make sure his heart wouldn't beat right out of his chest, Hizashi turned to see his friend who was crouching with his sparkler. Shouta seemed captivated by the small sparks, eyes open with curiosity.

"It's pretty, right?" Hizashi grinned, squatting next to his friend.

Shouta nodded.

"I've never played with sparklers before."

"I figured you haven't! That's why I brought them," Hizashi laughed, admiring how the flickering sparks made Shouta's dark eyes twinkle. If it wasn't for the darkening sky, Hizashi was sure that Shouta would see his cheeks growing red.

"Next time let's see if we can go to a live fireworks show together. If you like seeing sparklers, you'll love seeing the sky light up!" Hizashi continued, hoping that Shouta wouldn't catch him staring if he distracted him with his voice.

Shouta's shoulders visibly tensed as he glanced between Hizashi and the sparkler in his hand. He bit his lower lip, seemingly contemplating on what he wanted to say.

"Hizashi…" Shouta began.

"Yeah?" Hizashi hummed in response.

"Thanks for hanging out with me today," Shouta sighed. "It was nice."

"Yeah, of course! I'm glad you had fun!" Hizashi smiled. "With summer break around the corner, we can do stuff like this more often."

"Yeah, I'd like that." Shouta gave a small smile as he looked up at Hizashi.

Hizashi felt his breath catch in his throat as they locked eyes. If he leaned in just a little closer, he could probably brush his lips against his friend's.

"Shouta," Hizashi breathed, feeling his ears grow red.

"Hizashi," Shouta murmured in response.

Suddenly the voice hero felt like he couldn't speak.

"Hey, guys. You do know your sparklers are out, right?" Tensei asked, crouching down with the duo.

Hizashi squeaked. Startled from the sudden sound of Tensei's voice, Hizashi jumped, once again connecting foreheads with Shouta. The two of them groaned, nursing the same spot that they had just bumped ten minutes ago.

"Damn it, Tensei," Hizashi quietly seethed, rubbing his bruised forehead.

Pushing himself up and offering a hand to Shouta, Hizashi caught Nemuri rubbing her temple. Hizashi sheepishly ran his hand through his hair again, sighing as he went over to help pack up their things.

The four of them walked to the train station together, holding idle chit chat. They eventually went their separate ways, leaving Hizashi alone with Shouta once again.

The two boarded the same train together. Shouta ended up falling asleep during their hour train ride home, his head resting on Hizashi's shoulder.

Losing another chance to confess his feelings, Hizashi groaned and lazily slung an arm around his friend to pull him closer. He felt his face grow hot from feeling Shouta's body pressed up against his side.

Falling in love sucks, Hizashi sighed. Especially if it's with your best friend.


	4. Sleepover

"You're probably the type of guy who plans events far in advance, but overlook one small detail which ruins everything for you," Nemuri smirked.

Hizashi's indignant pout only reinforced her statement.

"That means that you have to create the perfect environment where **you're** the only one who can mess things up," she continued, tapping Hizashi on his forehead in emphasis.

"What's that even suppose to mean, Nemuri?" Hizashi whined, swatting away the finger that insisted on jabbing him in the head.

"That means you plan a night with Shouta where it's just the two of you. No outside interruptions, no distractions; just the two of you together in a quiet place," Nemuri chided.

"Th-that sounds suspicious," Hizashi sputtered, blushing as he hugged his knees to his chest.

"Look, I'm not telling you to sleep with him. I'm telling you to find an opportunity to tell him how you feel," Nemuri sighed. "Please don't make things complicated. It'll just be an honest night where you get it all off your chest. The only thing stopping you is if you chicken out, which I absolutely forbid you from doing!"

"But Nemuri, I don't even know if he likes me back. It'll be the worst night ever if he doesn't take my confession well. I'd probably have to sleep on the front porch if he doesn't return my feelings!" The thought of an impending rejection made the blond huddle under a blanket.

His hiding spot was roughly torn away, the blanket being thrown to the far corner of the room. Nemuri was clearly done being patient with him, evident from her blown pupils and exasperated snarl.

"Hizashi, heroes are the ones who take action even if they're afraid of what will happen. So get your shit together and start acting like the hero you're suppose to be!" Nemuri felt her eyebrow twitch in agitation.

"Y-yes m'am," Hizashi squeaked, holding back on telling her that he didn't really have his hero license yet.

* * *

"You never told me that you liked scary movies," Shouta said, scanning the description on the DVD box. "Which is strange because you never stop talking about the things you get really into."

"Well, it's not like I talk about you all the time, now do I?" Hizashi muttered under his breath before he could stop himself as he fiddled with the DVD player.

"What did you say?" Shouta asked, cocking his head to the side. He was clearly caught off guard by the quiet whisper from the aspiring voice hero.

"I asked if you wanted any snacks for the movie!" Hizashi loudly coughed, finally getting the movie to play. He took a sharp intake of breath when the face of an eerie woman dressed in white appeared on screen. Hizashi bit down on his tongue to hold back a deafening scream.

"You know what, of course you want snacks. Everyone wants snacks when they watch movies. It's no fun if there aren't any snacks. One time I had a movie marathon with my parents and it felt so unnatural not having anything to munch on. I really like the cheese puffs my mom bought that one time when we went to the supermarket two summers ago," Hizashi drawled as he tried to avert his gaze from the snippets of horror scenes that played in the background of the start menu.

"Y-you know what, I'll go grab some! D-don't start the movie without me, okay?" Hizashi stuttered, hurriedly scampering to the kitchen when Shouta squinted in confusion at his babbling.

Hizashi's parents had taken a weekend trip, entrusting him to watch the house while they were gone. It was the perfect opportunity to invite Shouta over and confess his feelings to his best friend with no foreseeable interruptions. Hizashi had been building up his courage for this ever since his parents had told him that he could have Shouta sleep over for the entire weekend.

He had planned to order take-out, watch a movie and spend the night playing video games with Shouta. It was supposed to be a casual hang out, just like any other time he had slept over and once they were settled in for the night, he'd tell Shouta how he felt about him. But Hizashi figured that it had to at least be slightly different or else he'd forget that this whole weekend was suppose to be for him to tell Shouta about his "blatantly obvious crush" (as Nemuri would put it).

Maybe he had gotten inspiration from a shoujo manga he had been reading, but Hizashi had somehow decided that watching a horror movie would be a good excuse to cuddle up with Shouta before his big confession. The idea of feeling his best friend pressed up against him shaking from anticipation made Hizashi completely forget that he couldn't stand horror movies.

The last time he had seen one was when he was six and in all honesty, he hadn't even watched it. Six-year-old Hizashi had walked into the living room one night and he had promptly screamed when he was met with pitch black eyes on the television screen. He spent a month sleeping with an absurdly bright nightlight that had the potential to light up the entire neighborhood.

But here he was now, trying his best not to faint while carrying a large bag of chips and two cans of soda. Hizashi dropped the snacks on the table and took a seat next to Shouta, barely leaving any room between them. He felt Shouta's gaze linger on his rigid body, hearing him give a huff before he gently bumped shoulders with him.

If Hizashi hadn't been so focused on holding back tears from merely staring at the start menu, he would have been bouncing up and down when Shouta threw a blanket around the two of them. He felt Shouta lean a bit more heavily onto him, their fingers brushing passed each other for a split second when he reached for the remote.

For an hour and thirty minutes, Hizashi either took sanctuary hiding behind Shouta or sinking so deeply into their shared blanket that only the tip of his blond hair peeked out. Overall, he was proud of himself for making it through the entirety of the movie without crying. He was also happy to report that he hadn't shattered any eardrums when he shrieked or broken Shouta's arm when he clung onto it for moral support.

Hizashi also noted that this was the most time he had ever spent invading Shouta's personal space without getting shrugged (or punched) off. As the credits rolled onto the screen, Hizashi felt his chest grow tight as he realized how accommodating his best friend had been for him, especially since he knew that Shouta wasn't very good with body contact.

Counting to five in an attempt to calm his beating heart, Hizashi peeked at Shouta to steal a short glance at his crush. He found his green eyes staring right into his best friend's black ones, gasping as Hizashi quickly turned his gaze elsewhere in a poor attempt to hide his stare. He desperately tried to focus his attention onto the empty soda can, hoping that the slight redness in his cheeks would fade away.

"The movie's over," Shouta stated, not showing any intention of moving from his spot next to Hizashi. Pouting his lower lip, Hizashi once again tried to catch a glimpse of his friend's expression, but Shouta's head was now turned away from him, staring at the curtains framing the living room window.

"Yeah," Hizashi muttered, leaning his head a bit more heavily onto his friend's shoulder. As much as he wanted to stay cuddled next to Shouta, Hizashi also didn't want to watch the start menu scenes. This one movie would haunt him for at least a year, he thought.

Huffing quietly, he gave Shouta's arm one last squeeze before moving to turn off the DVD player. Hizashi immediately missed having the warm body pressed up against him.

"You didn't seem to like the movie," Shouta said. His arm came up to rub on the shoulder Hizashi had been leaning on.

"You noticed that, huh?" Hizashi sheepishly laughed as he nervously pulled on the collar of his sweatshirt. "What can I say, I wanted to try something new with you I guess."

"And you had to choose something that would make you scream next to my ear for over an hour?" Shouta tauntingly inquired, fully wrapping himself in the blanket, claiming it as his own now that Hizashi had stepped out of it.

"Hey, I didn't miss how you were staring at the ceiling during the climax of the movie!" Hizashi sputtered, feeling his cheeks heat up from being reminded of his embarrassing shrieks. "And you were squeezing my thigh so hard during the chase scene that I thought you were going to rip a hole in my sweatpants!"

"You were practically holding my hand ever since the movie started," Shouta countered, huddling deeper into the blanket until only his eyes peeked out from under it, hiding his small pout. The tufts of his black hair framed the soft blush on his cheeks.

"You didn't try to make me stop though," Hizashi smirked, his chest growing tight again when he was met with silence and a pair of narrowed black eyes. He stuffed his hand into the pocket of his sweatshirt as he remembered the warmth of Shouta's palm against his own.

Hizashi bit his lower lip, intending to follow up on his comment by telling Shouta that he wouldn't mind holding his hand more often. Instead, he squeaked when he felt something brush up against his feet. Shouta's eyes immediately flared red from the blond's abrupt outburst.

They were both greeted with a soft meow as Hizashi's house cat rubbed its cheek against Hizashi's leg.

"Damn it, you stupid cat," Hizashi hissed in English, still trembling from the sudden rush of adrenaline.

"Hey, don't talk to Oreo like that," Shouta berated, holding his arms out for the cat to brush against his chest, walking into the welcoming hug.

Hizashi held back a jealous "tsk", biting the inside of his cheek at the display of affection that wasn't directed towards him.

"Whatever, let's go to my room and finish up some homework. I need some help with some of the discussion questions for history class and I bet you need me to proof read your English essay," Hizashi huffed as he grabbed the half empty bag of chips from the coffee table.

Shouta trailed behind him, the blanket still hanging from his shoulders. Oreo was cradled to his chest, bumping its head against Shouta's chin.

The two of them spent about an hour working on schoolwork, trading their papers back and forth to exchange feedback. Hizashi refused to admit that he spent a good amount of time giving his cat the stink eye as it laid contently on Shouta's lap. He swore Oreo even stuck out its tongue at him at one point.

After trying to explain how to properly use adverbs in sentences for the fifth time, Hizashi didn't miss how his friend tried to stifle a soft yawn behind his hand. Shouta's eyes darted to Hizashi's, seemingly gauging if he had seen it.

Hizashi snorted.

"Pfft… Your yawns are so cute. It makes me think of a rabbit for some reason," Hizashi warmly laughed, grinning as he watched his friend grunt in response, pulling the blanket tighter around his shoulders in what appeared to be embarrassment.

"It's not that special," Shouta pouted, narrowing his eyes as he chose to stare at the cat in his lap rather than at the bright smile his friend was giving him.

"Come on, let's get ready for bed. We can finish the rest of the essay questions tomorrow. My parents will be back in the afternoon so they're probably going to want you to stay over for dinner anyway," Hizashi grinned, closing his textbook.

Shouta hummed in response, gently stroking Oreo's stomach as he nodded in agreement.

The two of them began packing their books away, clearing the floor around Hizashi's bed for them to prepare a futon next to it. As Shouta flipped the light switch off and rustled into his sleeping spot, Hizashi felt himself shiver, remembering that this was the night he had planned to confess his feelings.

And he better confess them fast because one of Shouta's talents was to fall asleep in under a minute at any given time, Hizashi thought. He'll never forget how his best friend had once somehow fallen asleep standing up while trying to find a book in the school library.

"Hey, Shouta," Hizashi started, feeling heat rush to the tip of his ears. The outline of Shouta's silhouette shifted, turning to face him in the dark.

"Yeah?" he grunted.

Hizashi wondered if his friend could hear how loud his heart was beating. His fists gripped his blanket so tightly that Hizashi absently wondered if he would leave tear marks on it.

Hizashi opened his mouth, but before he could get anything out, he heard clattering noises coming from his kitchen. He shot up from his bed, staring at his closed bedroom door.

"What was that?!" Hizashi harshly whispered, his green eyes wide open in full alert mode.

"What was what?" Shouta lethargically sighed, pushing himself up as well. Hizashi didn't miss how his friend twitched when the clattering sound resounded again.

The two of them sat in the dark in silence. Hizashi suddenly felt like his heart was about to beat right out of his chest for a whole different reason now.

"Please tell me that it's just Oreo down there," Hizashi whispered through gritted teeth. As if in response, his house cat let out a soft meow, walking up to stare at the closed bedroom door.

"Oh dear god," Hizashi dramatically breathed. "Do you think watching that movie opened up a portal for that ghost to get out of our television? Do you think that's her down there?! Oh my god, Shouta, what if she's down there?! What am I going to tell my parents?!"

"Shut up, Hizashi," Shouta muttered under his breath as he stood up to open the bedroom light. "Let's just check downstairs. You probably put the soda cans at the edge of the counter and they just tipped over or something."

"Soda cans don't tip over by themselves!" Hizashi squeaked, jumping out of his bed when he saw Shouta heading for the door. "M-maybe we should call someone!"

"Calm down, Hizashi," Shouta murmured, cautiously exiting the bedroom. "When it comes to stuff like this, nine out of ten times you're overreacting."

"But what if this is the one in ten times I'm right?!" Hizashi hastily grabbed his cellphone before clinging onto Shouta's arm in an attempt to steady himself.

"It never is," Shouta grunted, his shoulders tensing with his friend pressed up against his side.

What was suppose to only be a ten second walk to the kitchen felt like an hour training session. Hizashi's legs felt like jelly as the two of them made their way through the dark hallways. As they approached the kitchen, clacking sounds were heard on the tile floors.

"Shoutaaaa~," Hizashi whined as they entered the kitchen. He was starting to wonder if he was actually suited to be a hero at this point in his life.

When he spotted the outline of a dark figure on his kitchen floor, Hizashi screamed (luckily without his quirk activated). There was a minute of panicked fumbling, loud curses and clattering before Shouta managed to flip the light switch on.

Hizashi had gracefully landed on his butt during the shuffling, his glasses skewed to one side of his face. Sitting a foot away from his legs was a pudgy raccoon, an empty juice box in its paws. The trash can had been flipped onto its side, plastic take-out containers and used napkins littered the kitchen floor.

Hizashi gaped at the animal, its nose twitching in curiosity at his bewildered expression. It placed the empty juice box on the floor, holding out its paws expectantly at him. It let out a soft squeak, blinking its dark pupils innocently.

The sound of a soft snort broke Hizashi out of his trance. He whipped his head towards Shouta, fully intending to give him an indignant glare for laughing at his near-death experience.

He found his friend desperately trying to hold back laughter, his head turned to the side with one hand covering his mouth. It looked like Shouta was trying to keep himself from falling over by gripping the kitchen counter, shaking from the sheer effort of holding back any giggles that threatened to escape from his mouth.

"Sh-shouta! Don't laugh at me! I swear, I saw my life flash before my eyes, okay!" Hizashi screeched, shooting up to shove his friend. If he could see his own reflection, Hizashi swore that his face would be as red as a tomato right now.

Shouta switched from gripping the counter to holding his stomach, refusing to face his friend as he trembled from silent laughter.

Hizashi groaned loudly, running his hand through his hair in embarrassment. Instead of waiting for Shouta to compose himself, Hizashi grabbed a bag of bread on the kitchen table, waving it in front of the stray animal. The raccoon perked up at the sight of food. It trailed behind Hizashi quietly as they made their way to the front door, switching between walking on all fours to just its hindlegs as it followed the blond.

After getting the animal out the door, Hizashi threw a slice of bread passed the gate, closing the door when the raccoon dashed after it. He then walked back into the kitchen, finding an open window the raccoon had undoubtedly climbed through.

As he closed it, he pouted at Shouta who was now staring at him. His mouth was in a thin line, resisting the temptation of twitching up into a smile.

Hizashi gave an embarrassed "hmph", stalking back to his bedroom with hunched shoulders.

He threw the covers over his head, hearing Shouta flick the light switch off. He heard his bedroom door click shut followed by rustling undoubtedly coming from Shouta settling under his futon once again.

The two laid in silence. Hizashi felt his face grow hotter with each passing minute.

"So, about that ghost that came out of the portal…"

"Shut up, Shouta."

The soft laugh that echoed in the quiet room made Hizashi's heart flutter.


	5. Confession

"Nemuri, nothing's working," Hizashi dramatically sobbed. "I cooked for him. I went out with him. I even got to be alone with him, but somehow the universe won't give me a break!"

As Hizashi laid his head on the café table, Nemuri apathetically sipped out of her caramel latte, casually examining her newly painted nails.

"Sweetie, have you even told him how you felt yet?" Nemuri flatly stated. Hizashi sheepishly pulled his hood over his head and groaned loudly. He assumed his upperclassmen understood his answer by the way she kicked him in the shin under the table.

"You're an idiot, Hizashi." Nemuri pulled out a few bills from her wallet and laid it on the table. After throwing her jacket on, she tossed her bag over her shoulder and made her way to the exit.

"Wait, where are you going?! We just sat down!" Hizashi shot out of his chair and hastily pulled out a few bills to pay for his drink, frantically trying to catch up. "I called you out to get some advice, not to sit down with you for five minutes!"

"You're wasting my time," Nemuri droned, sighing into her hand as Hizashi hurriedly tried to keep up with her long strides.

"What are you talking about?!" Hizashi nearly wailed, running flat into Nemuri's back from the abrupt stop she made.

Swinging around on her heel, Nemuri came face to face with the underclassmen, who straightened his back from the sudden intense pressure he felt from her gaze.

"Stop it with these games, Hizashi. You think you're trying to woo him or something, but you're actually just dancing around the fact that you're too afraid to tell him how you feel," Nemuri huffed.

Hizashi felt his mouth go dry as he opened and closed his mouth like a gaping goldfish.

"But weren't you the one who told me to do all these things to get him to like me first?" Hizashi squeaked, shifting his weight from one foot to the other as his eyes fell to the floor.

"Hizashi, I went along with it because I thought that one of those moments would give you the courage to confess your feelings to him. You know from the very beginning that I already felt that Shouta returned your feelings." Nemuri placed her hands on her hips in exasperation as Hizashi seemed to shrink even further into himself. "Just tell him you like him. You'll never get past this if you don't try."

"But what if this isn't the right time?" Hizashi fidgeted with his headphone cord, letting the question "what if he doesn't like me" go unsaid.

"Why are you making this into a complicated mess?" Nemuri sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. Pulling on the ends of his sweatshirt, Hizashi absently felt like he was being berated by his parents for failing an exam. Somehow being around Nemuri, who was only one year older than him still managed to make him feel like a toddler from time to time.

"Tell him how you feel." Hizashi felt a gentle tap on his forehead. He meekly met Nemuri's gaze, his mouth drawn in a thin line. "And don't call me out again until you do, you understand?"

Hizashi felt his stomach drop as he cautiously nodded his head, not trusting his own voice. His hand tugged harder on the hem of his sweatshirt. He could feel his ears growing red from simply thinking about confessing to his best friend.

He felt Nemuri place a hand on his shoulder, giving him a gentle squeeze before parting ways with him. Tomorrow was going to the hardest battle of his life, he absently thought.

* * *

Hizashi was extremely distracted with his impending confession. He found himself falling behind during the rescue simulation, literally dropping into pitfalls that were plainly in view. He accidentally spilled his miso soup during lunch and worst of all he answered a question wrong during English class, leaving the whole class baffled by his mistake. To make matters worse, Hizashi didn't miss how Shouta's eyebrows furrowed in concern as he sank into his desk in shame. He never wanted to crawl into bed and hide under a makeshift pillow fort more than at that very moment.

When the teacher ended their final class, Hizashi felt like he had been dismissed to a battlefield. His heart roared in his chest as he slowly packed his books and strapped on his backpack.

"Do you want to finish up some practice problems at my place tonight?" Hizashi blinked as he realized that Shouta was standing next to him, studying him intently.

"Y-yeah! We can order take-out. I've been craving some karage lately!" Hizashi gave his friend a tooth grinning smile, his stomach flipping when Shouta continued to silently stare at him.

" _Come on, let's go!"_ Hizashi nearly shrieked in English, grimacing slightly when his friend flinched from the sudden change in volume. He quickly made his way to the door, hearing a quiet huff as well as soft footsteps trailing behind him.

As they walked to Shouta's apartment together, Hizashi mentally rehearsed his confession, quietly muttering, "I like you" under his breath repeatedly. He wiped his sweaty palms on his uniform, willing his hands to stop shaking. Hizashi started to regret eating lunch as his stomach flipped from agitation.

"Hey, Hizashi." He turned to face his friend who was once again staring at him, his pupils shifting up and down as he studied his form. "Are you feeling alright? You usually talk about… well, _everything_ when we walk home, but you've been really quiet. It's starting to freak me out."

Hizashi took a sharp intake of air, suddenly realizing that he hadn't been speaking to Shouta ever since they left the classroom.

"You've also been acting strange during class, too. What's going on?" Shouta folded his arms, standing firmly in place. If anyone were to see Shouta like this, they wouldn't think much of it. But Hizashi knew better. It was his "we're-not-leaving-until-I-get-the-truth" position.

He had frequently tried to get out of situations like these, but Hizashi had failed every time, most recently being when Shouta questioned if he had eaten his pudding during his last visit to his apartment. When Hizashi had attempted to escape, only five minutes later he found Shouta sitting on top of him, effectively pinning him down. After whining and failing to topple his friend over, Hizashi had admitted to raiding his friend's fridge. He had then been forced to buy Shouta a new package of pudding (which was also twice the price of the one he had eaten, Hizashi noted).

Hizashi nervously tugged on the collar of his uniform, swaying back and forth on the heels of his feet. How ironic, the voice hero couldn't seem to speak, he bitterly thought.

"Hizashi, what's wrong?"

He opened his mouth, clamping it shut a moment later. He switched from playing with his uniform to fiddling with his fingers as he felt his heart drop into his stomach.

" _Come on, Present Mic! Tell him!"_ he internally screamed.

Shouta's adamant stance weakened when he didn't receive an immediate answer. His folded arms receded into his pockets, slouching slightly as he sighed.

"If you really can't talk about it, then I won't force you. But whatever's going on, I'm going to find out eventually." Shouta's eyes shifted to the ground, frowning at a particularly interesting weed protruding from a crack on the cement ground.

"It worries me," he mumbled, voice rasping from each syllable. "I don't like seeing you like this."

Hizashi nervously bit the inside of his cheek, taking one last deep breath. He straightened his back and tilted his head up to the sky.

"ARE YOU READY, LISTENER?!" Hizashi suddenly shrieked, his voice scattering the flock of birds that were on the roof next to them. He immediately felt his quirk disappear, greeted by his friend's twitching red eyes.

"Sorry, sorry! I just got excited to tell my favorite listener something _SUPER_ important!" he laughed, making an extra effort to enunciate the dash of English he threw into his sentences. Hizashi adjusted his tinted sunglasses as he put on his most charming, full tooth grin. "I've been thinking about the _PERFECT_ moment to tell you and it's taken me weeks to finally find it and _NOW IS THE TIME_!"

"What on Earth are you talking about?" Shouta grunted, grimacing at the amount of random English thrown in his direction.

"This is a very _IMPORTANT_ message delivered to you by the amazing Present Mic himself!" Hizashi dramatically twirled into a quaint bow.

"Get to the point, Hizashi."

Gripping the straps of his backpack in an effort to steady himself, Hizashi's green eyes locked with the future erasure hero's.

"Shouta," Hizashi squeaked, his heart pounding hard against his chest as his sudden bravado quickly faded. "You… you're my best friend. You know that, right?"

Shouta blinked at the sudden change in tone, wrinkling his nose in worry. This wasn't the first time he had been asked this question. "What's going on, Hizashi?"

"I…" Hizashi could feel sweat running down his forehead. He held his breath and closed his eyes, his hands balling into tight fists by his side.

"I LIKE YOU." Hizashi swore that steam was coming out of his ears at this point.

"I like you, Shouta. I like you so much that I don't know what to do with myself. You've been my best friend since we were in elementary school and after we got into UA together, I started seeing you differently. You were always so smart and cool when we were kids and none of that has changed. But now everything that you do, I can't stop thinking about it. You're so… _beautiful_ when I watch you during battle simulations, the way your eyes glow behind your goggles and the way you smirk after you win… Sometimes I forget who you're even fighting because I'm so focused on looking at _you_."

Hizashi ran his hand through his hair, his green eyes watering from the sheer effort of confessing.

"And you're always so caring even though you try to hide it, like how you offhandedly give advice to our classmates when they're not sure how to improve their fighting styles or if they're feeling unsure about themselves. You're also so dedicated and strong. Whenever we don't walk home together, I know you're staying behind on school grounds to train. You work three times as hard as everyone else when it comes to physical training and you never complain or brag about it."

He gave a crooked smile, his eyes still not meeting Shouta's.

"I just… I like everything about you. I like how happy you get whenever you see a cat. I like how you sound when you laugh at one of my jokes. I even think the small things that you do are really cute, like the way you pick out the pickles from your burger or how your eyes light up when you see a sale on juice pouches."

Hizashi groaned, scrubbing his eye with the palm of his hand.

"I like you, Shouta," Hizashi breathed. "I really like you."

Counting to five after finishing his confession, Hizashi weakly glanced at Shouta. He could probably hear how loud his heart was beating, Hizashi shakily thought.

He blinked twice. Shouta's eyes were widened, a dark blush spreading from his cheeks to his ears. His hand came up to cover the lower half of his face. His eyes slowly narrowed as they focused on anywhere but Hizashi.

"I had no idea you felt that way about me," he mumbled through his hand, shoulders tensing.

Hizashi gaped at his best friend, trying to commit the image of a violently blushing Shouta to memory. And then the statement finally settled in.

"YOU REALLY HAD NO IDEA?!" Hizashi screamed. "Shouta, for the past few weeks I've been making you decorated bentou and fancy desserts like a lovestruck school girl! I've been taking you out on dates and I even held your hand for crying out loud!"

"But you _always_ do things like that, Hizashi," Shouta huffed through gritted teeth. "You're always clingy and you've always been doing things like this for me ever since we were kids so I thought that everything that was happening in the last few weeks was just you being… _you_."

Hizashi deflated, biting his lip as he watched Shouta close his eyes and sigh. His hand dropped from his face, weakly tugging at the cuff of his uniform.

"When we were kids, you chose to be my friend when no one else would even give me a second glance. You never hesitated to put yourself in harm's way for my sake, even before we both decided to become heroes." Shouta's voice dropped, almost completely hidden by the sound of cicadas if Hizashi hadn't been paying attention to him.

"Ever since we met, you've always been so nice to me. I never understood why," Shouta muttered, gripping his backpack strap in apprehension.

"There's no deep reason or hidden meaning. That's just what friends do," Hizashi weakly laughed. "But all this stuff that's been going on for the past few weeks, I guess this time I was hoping that we could be more than friends."

"I mean, if that's even a possibility," he chuckled, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

Shouta glanced at Hizashi and sighed, running his hand through his black hair. The light dusting of red on his face was evident on his pale skin.

"Hizashi, I've liked you for a long time now," he muttered.

Cicadas continued to buzz in the background.

"YOU WHAT?!" Hizashi was once again met with flaring red eyes.

After seeing him clamp his mouth shut, Shouta huffed, letting his hair flow back down to his shoulders.

"That time when you came by unannounced to my place when we were kids," Shouta began, pausing as he remembered how bright Hizashi's green eyes seemed that night. "When you… _saved_ me, that's probably when it started."

Hizashi sucked in a breath of air, remembering how scared he was when he forcibly ran away with Shouta that night. He was scared of the angry voice that echoed behind him and of the unfamiliar neighborhood that had poor lighting. But most of all, he was terrified of how frightened and battered his friend had looked, cradling large bruises and cuts littered on his thin frame.

"When you carried me on your back that night, you were really warm." Shouta's voice was somber, his mouth drawn in a thin line. "You smelled like mint and curry and your sweatshirt was really soft."

Hizashi blinked at the subtle smile from his best friend.

"I felt safe," he whispered, his dark eyes trailing up to meet his pair of green ones.

"I didn't know it then, but that's when it started. After we were separated, during that time when we were apart, I missed you every day. I was happy when we could spend time together and I always looked forward to getting letters from you or talking on the phone. And the more I thought about it, I realized I liked you." Shouta sighed, his face reddening.

Silence fell between them as Shouta waited for a response.

Hizashi felt his blush grow into a dark crimson. As he stared at his best friend, he felt his heart beat even faster than before if that was even possible. He began to vibrate from excitement followed by a hysterically loud laugh that set off nearby car alarms.

"SHOUTA!" he screamed, running to his friend and pulling him into a tight hug. He didn't know how, but at that very moment, Hizashi managed to pick up his sputtering friend and spin around with him in their embraced state.

"Hi-Hizashi! Cut it out!" Shouta pushed against his friend, trying to escape from the embarrassing gesture. It faintly reminded Hizashi of how a cat would look when it refused to take a bath.

"Shouta! Shouta, do you know what this means?!" Hizashi's giddy voice echoed through the neighborhood. He didn't miss how Shouta tried to hide his blushing face behind his bangs.

"THAT MEANS WE'RE GOING OUT!" Hizashi laughed, tears forming at the corner of his eyes. "WE'RE DATING, SHOUTA!"

"Yes, we're dating. Now put me down," Shouta huffed, weakly squirming in Hizashi's tight hug.

Hizashi refused to let go, choosing to pull Shouta closer and resting his forehead against his new boyfriend's.

"We're going out," he breathily laughed, fondly staring at Shouta's bright red face. Leaning in slowly, Hizashi placed a gentle kiss on his lips, reluctantly pulling away after only a brief moment. He was met with a soft smile as Shouta intertwined their fingers together.

"We're dating," Hizashi repeated, his lips tingling from the short kiss.

"Yeah, I guess we are," Shouta whispered, as he held Hizashi's hand, pulling him towards the direction of his apartment.

Hizashi couldn't stop smiling.


End file.
